This recipe was originally called Beacon Hill Cookies and is from Butterfingers, a 1970s cookbook of the Sisterhood of Temple Habonim of the Barrington Jewish Center. I was looking for a non-coconut Passover cookie and Adele generously shared this recipe with me. It produces a light, meringue-style chocolate cookie, with chopped nuts inside for added texture. But here’s a tip that I discovered by accident: If you leave the cookies out on the counter uncovered overnight, they will dry up a bit and become dense and chewy. I found these more filling and satisfying, and a nice change from the usual meringue cookies. Whichever you prefer, these cookies are easy to make, but serve within a day or two of baking. I used almonds, but any nut will do.

Food Editor's Note:

This is a moist, light, chocolaty, fantastic cake!  The chopped dates are almost indistinguishable in the final product, but add a subtle flavor and a moistness that is incredible.  The cake looks great, too, with the chocolate bits, nuts, and powdered sugar decorating the top.  (You can choose any type of nuts for the top, or leave them off altogether.)  If you like chocolate, but want something a bit different that is not overpoweringly sweet, this is a perfect choice!

This cookie is a family favorite and the only one my husband David ever requests. No matter what else is being served, relatives always request that I bring these cookies to a family gathering. I have made them hundreds of times and conducted various taste tests to consider the questions of butter versus margarine, light brown versus dark brown sugar, large versus small cookies. Surprisingly, the pareve margarine version always beats the butter one, but do use Fleishman’s unsalted margarine (by far the best pareve margarine). My family also prefers the larger size, but with the lesser amount of chips.

This recipe is easy and you can break up the steps to fit your schedule. Mix up the dry ingredients the night before, prepare the cookie dough and store in the refrigerator up to a day, or freeze the dough and defrost when ready to use. My family even likes to sneak the raw dough as I’m baking! You can vary the recipe by using different flavor chips (milk chocolate, mint chocolate, or a combination of semisweet or milk chocolate and peanut butter) or by adding 1 cup chopped nuts.

If you want to want to make your kids’ day, prepare the cookie dough and refrigerate, and bake a tray of cookies right before you want to serve them. There is nothing like a warm chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven with a glass of milk.

Food Editor's note:

This is a recipe that a friend gave me a few years ago.  I add raisins to it and think it makes a great lunch or dairy dinner with a salad.  It is very rich and creamy.

Food Editor's Notes:  This is one of our 2006 Passover Recipe Contest winners!  You won't believe how light and fluffy (yet still rich and creamy) a Passover kugel can be!  This is basically a sweet cheese noodle kugel without the noodles.  The farfel helps to hold it together, but doesn't make it dense or heavy.  This is a sweet treat – it comes out of the oven a beautiful golden brown and puffed up high.  It's best served like this, right from the oven – perfect for a brunch or company supper - but it's also wonderful reheated for breakfast, lunch, or a special snack.

Cheese blintzes are delicious and are much easier to make than most people imagine. The crepe batter mixes up in a minute and each pancake slips out of the pan in just about the same amount of time. The filling is also a snap to mix up and the forming of the blintzes is easily learned and quick work.

Small blintzes may be served as hors d’oeuvre, but I prefer to make larger ones and serve them as a main course, topped with sour cream. My mother eats them sprinkled with sugar, but I think this recipe produces blintzes which are sweet enough on their own. Of course blintzes may also be served for dessert, with or without a fruit topping or cinnamon and sugar. If you like blintzes that are less sweet, reduce the amount of sugar in the filling.

Blintzes are often served on Shavuot, as it is traditional to eat dairy foods on this holiday. But do yourself and your family a favor and make these filling, nutritious bundles more than once a year. They freeze well, and will be a welcome treat for any meal of the day!

Everyone will swoon when you serve this luscious dessert warm with vanilla ice cream. Inspired by the classic tarte tatin, this fall or winter treat consists of alternating layers of succulent sliced apples and rich pastry dough brushed with a caramelized butter/sugar mixture. Have no anxiety about the fact that you must roll out pastry dough in this recipe -- just stay relaxed, and I promise you that regardless of how much expertise you have or don't have, the end result will be an indescribable synergy of tastes and textures!

These are sweet, but not overly sweet.  They are delicious as is, or with whipped cream, sour cream, jam or ice cream.

Food Editor's Notes:  This is a great variation of Chanukah "sufganiyot" (doughnuts) that will be a hit at your holiday party or any time you want a special dessert.  The apples make this fried treat special, as does the brandy, which adds "adult" flavor but is not overwhelming at all.  As Marcy says, these are not too sweet (which is good), but you can sprinkle them with as much powdered sugar as you like when serving, or have each person "dust" their own.  I made these using soy milk, because I wanted to see what the pareve version tasted like.  They were so good, you would never be able distinguish a pareve substitute for the milk.  I also made this with both Granny Smith and red delicious apples and they were equally good.  Marcy says that you may have to add some extra liquid if the batter is too thick (this is somewhat subjective); I in fact added a couple extra tablespoons.  Serve these apple doughnuts hot, while they're still crispy and fresh – it's worth the last-minute frying, which only takes a few minutes anyway.

I adapted this recipe from one claiming to be the "Original Durgin Park Cornbread." Since I've come across no fewer than 25 "original" recipes, I can't vouch for its authenticity, but it does remind me of childhood visits to that Boston landmark every time I make it.

Food Editor's Note: This is a wonderful, simple cornbread - flavorful, a bit crumbly, and just sweet enough. It was the first cornbread my younger son ever decided he liked! I've always wanted to try to make a pareve cornbread, but was afraid that it wouldn't pass muster. I finally attempted it with this recipe and the results were surprisingly good. In fact, my husband David preferred it to the dairy version. This is best eaten right from the oven, while still warm, and it goes well with either of our chli recipes, Lisa's Three Bean Turkey Chili or Chili with Beef and Beans.